GameStop Allows Unlimted Borrowing of Used Games (For 60 Bucks)

The idea of games as a service has been circulating for a very long time now and is obviously the direction that EA is going. It's predicted by some (myself included) that the inevitable future of that ambition is to turn gaming into a Netflix-like service, where rather than paying for individual games, you dish out a monthly fee for unlimited access to a much larger library of them. Argue about the pluses and downsides of that system all you like but it'll probably happen, and by the looks of things, it'll be GameStop that makes that first move with the announcement of the PowerPass.

The Powerpass is a program that will be available for their PowerUp Rewards members. By paying sixty bucks, you'll be able to play as many of their pre-owned games as you want, absolutely free. Simply go to a store, grab the game you want, and take it home. When you beat it or sick of it, all you have to do is bring it back and exchange it for something else. And the cherry on top is that once your six months are up, you can take one of those games home for free.

Obviously, we wouldn't be reporting on it if it wasn't an interesting yet worthwhile bargain, and I have to say, it is certainly that and then some. Physical games retailers have been struggling for years to combat the rise of digital game sales, and turning used games into a rental/Netflix-like service seems like just the ticket - it means people will be paying a lot more money than they normally would for a used game, it'll be getting people into the store often to see what's available, and since they'll already be in the store, it means they'll be tempted to save disk space and get one of those fancy hard-copy disks.

It's a triple-whammy. And I wonder if it'll be enough to save GameStop. We'll have to see.